I am a wanderer. I would say that I am a seeker, but sometimes I have no idea what I might be seeking, so I will stick with wanderer. This blog is more a public journal than anything. I don't claim to have life figured out. I simply stumble from mystery to mystery, and share my reflections along the way. Sometimes I feel burdened, and trudge. Sometimes? Well sometimes grace breaks through, and its time to dance.

Welcome

Primitive religion is not believed, it is danced!

Arthur Darby Nock

Earth's crammed with heaven,And every common bush afire with God;And only he who sees takes off his shoes;The rest sit round it and pluck blackberries.

Thursday, May 30, 2013

As Jack Kornfield recounts in the book “How, Then, Shall We
Live?” it is the custom in one African tribe that when a woman decides to have
a child, she goes and sits alone under a tree, and she listens. She listens
until she hears the song of the child who wants to come.Once she hears the song, she returns to the
man who will be the child's father and teaches the song to him. When they make
love to conceive the child, they sing the song to call the child to them.

When the woman is pregnant, she teaches the child's song to
the midwives and old women of the village so that when the birth time arrives,
the people surrounding the mother sing the song to welcome the child among
them.

Then as the child grows up, the other villagers learn the
song. If the child falls or hurts his knee someone picks him up and sings the
song. When the child does something wonderful, the people of the village sing
this song. When the child goes through the rites of puberty and becomes an
adult, the villagers sing the song.

It goes this way through life. At a wedding, the songs of
husband and wife are sung together. Finally, when this child grows old, and
lies in bed ready to die, all the villagers know the song, and they sing it for
the last time.

Sometimes I think I forget my song

I know it should be a song of love

A song of grace

I know it should be a song that has woven into its melody and harmonies

Richard Rohr believes that the biggest mistake we make is by
creating two worlds, a sacred and a secular, or profane.He notes,that “everything is profane if you live on the surface of it, and
everything is sacred if you go into the depths of it—even your sin.”When we go deep into our own mistakes, we
find God. If we stay on the surface, even the things of God, like Bible, sacrament,
or church, can be destructive, unkind, even evil.

If we go deep we can "mend and renew the world by strengthening inside ourselves what we seek outside ourselves.." (Naked Now, p. 160)

What he is saying (or so it seems to me), is that as people of faith, when we go deep, and connect with the Sacred within. When we give the Spirit (to give this piece of the Sacred a name) a place to dwell, and room to move, we create a different world, because we change the way we see and respond to the reality that surrounds us.

Then Rohr offers a series of admonitions, that I dearly love. This morning, as the world around us looks fragmented and hopeless. This morning, as those with radical ideologies stumble around in ideological blindness, and those who are prepared to fear see danger everywhere, as those who hate spew words that are ugly and hurtful, I would like to offer the hope that we can create a different reality as we respond in the power of the Spirit.

If you want others to be more loving, choose to love first

If you want a reconciled outer world, reconcile your own inner world

If you are working of peace out there, create it inside as well

If you notice other people's irritability, let go of your own

If you wish to find some outer stillness, find it within yourself

If you are working for justice, treat yourself justly too

If you find yourself resenting the faults of others, stop resenting your own

If the world seems desperate, let go of your own despair

If you want a just world, start being just in small ways yourself.

If you situation feels hopeless, honor the one true spot of hope inside you

If you want to find 'God, then honor "God within you, and you will always see God beyond you. For it is only God in you who knows where and how to look for God.
(Richard Rohr, The Naked Now p. 161)

Sunday, May 12, 2013

One of my mom’s favorite stories about me when I
was really young involved she and my father coming home from a trip.As the story goes (I have no memory of this )
I crawled into my mother’s lap and asked her“Do you still love little boys?”

Further Reading

Creative Use of Diversity by Stephen Kliewer. A look at diversity in the church. Thoughts about the kinds of diversity in local congregations and its impact. Also thoughts about how to deal with diversity to maximize the positives and minimize the negatives . Published by the Alban Institute 1985

Healthcare and Spirituality by Stephen Kliewer and John Saultz. A look at spirituality and its place in the healing process. Originally designed as a primer for healthcare providers, it has also proved useful to pastors and laypeople. Published by Radcliffe Medical Press 2006.

Both can be found on Amazon.com

Another version of this blog, with photography from the author can be found on FaceBook

Look for "Dancing Faith"

Another great blog can be found at http://thefunstons.com/I encourage you to check it out!